1. Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to a hairwashing apparatus, and more specifically to a splash guard for protecting a person's eyes, ears and nose from soap and other hairdressing preparations, such as shampoo.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Soap guards and face protective shields or visors have been known. They are normally provided to guard against water, soap, or shampoo from entering the eyes, nose and ears of the person whose hair is being washed. While such devices have conventionally been considered to be “beauty shop” equipment, it has also become of interest to protect against irritation, inconvenience and possible detrimental effects of soap or hairdressing preparations entering the eyes, nose or ears when hair is washed in the home and shampooing fluids, for example, trickle down the face causing unnecessary inconvenience and annoyance, including wetting items of clothing. While a number of known splash guards or shields include visors that can in theory be held or gripped by a person doing the washing, these are not designed for that purpose and are difficult to grip, particularly in the presence of water, soap and other hair washing preparations that tend to make them wet and slippery. Attention is directed, for example, to the following U.S. patents:                1. U.S. Pat. No. 772,763 to Walters;        2. U.S. Pat. No. 2,424,352 to Conjurske;        3. U.S. Pat. No. 2,600,392 to Cancell;        4. U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,680 to Mason et al.; and        5. U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,218 to Kuhlman et al.;        6. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,984 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0129831, both to Kelly.        
The '763 patent is for a mounted device with a full head ring, a wide front visor and a chute-type rear drape. The '352 patent is for a flexible padded horseshoe band with a wide visor and ear cups. The '392 patent is for a device similar to the '763 device. The '680 patent is for an adjustable head-ring-type visor with a gutter that drains to the rear. The '218 patent is for a horseshoe shaped visor made of foam and with a rear clamp. The '984 patent and '831 patent application are for horseshoe shaped headbands with a gutter that drains to the rear.
However, the problem with the known shields or splash guards is that they do not include a handle or hand grip that can be conveniently and firmly gripped by the person doing the washing so that the device can be properly stabilized and held in place, even in a wet and slippery environment, and so that adequate pressure can be applied to the splash guard to maintain it on the head of a child, for example, even if the child moves or is less than fully cooperative while the child's hair is being washed.